NBC's Ryder Cup Final Round Rating: 3.4, Peaks At 6.4 Million
/The Ryder Cup ratings news is mixed, with Golf Channel enjoying a historic day on Friday, while the weekend was down a bit since 2012 at Medinah. The reasons? It could be that these matches were without Tiger, with sooner ending and with millions of cords cut in the four years since the last domestic Cup.
According to SBD, the 3.4 rating was down 17% from 2012's 4.1 rating. That puts the Ryder Cup behind the U.S. Open final round rating (3.8), and just barely ahead of The Open Championship among the big events. The Open aired much earlier in the day than the Ryder Cup.
The full release and overnight numbers:
NBC Sports’ Coverage of 2016 Ryder Cup Sunday Garners 4.3 Million Average Viewers, Peaking at 6.4 Million as U.S. Team Clinched a Decisive 17-11 Victory
Golf Channel Posts Most-Watched Day Ever with Coverage of Day 1 of Ryder Cup on Friday, Sept. 30
NBC Sports Group’s comprehensive coverage of the U.S. Team’s decisive 17-11 victory at the 2016 Ryder Cup concluded Sunday on NBC with 4.3 million average viewers and a 2.72 U.S. household rating (Noon-6 p.m. ET) according to Nielsen Fast Nationals. For average viewers, the 2016 Ryder Cup Sunday at Hazeltine National Golf Club outside Minneapolis was +95% vs. 2014 at Gleneagles in Scotland (7 a.m. – 12:40 p.m. ET); -22% vs. 2012 at Medinah outside Chicago (Noon-6:33 p.m. ET); and +2% vs. 2008 at Valhalla outside Louisville (12:30-6:07 p.m. ET), the last time the United States won the Ryder Cup.
Viewership on Sunday peaked with 6.4 Million average viewers from 5-5:15 p.m. ET as Ryan Moore clinched the winning point in Match 7 of 12 at approximately 5:12 p.m. ET, 45 minutes before the conclusion of coverage. In comparison, 2012 at Medinah peaked between 6-6:15 p.m. ET as Europe’s Martin Kaymer capped one of the greatest comebacks in Ryder Cup history by winning the 11th match of 12 to win 14 ½ - 13 ½.
Additional NBC Sports Ryder Cup highlights:
· Across all three days, the 2016 Ryder Cup totaled 35.1 million live minutes, 487,000 unique devices, and an average minute audience of 22,000 across all digital platforms. The average minute audience of 22,000 users ranks as the highest for any NBC and Golf Channel event on record (NBC’s inaugural coverage of The Open had an average minute audience of 18,000).
· Golf Channel’s Live From the Ryder Cup on Sunday evening following play posted a .31 overnight rating (6-9:15 p.m. ET), +121% vs. 2014 at Gleneagles and +82% vs. 2012 at Medinah.
· On Friday with Day 1 of the Ryder Cup, Golf Channel posted its most-watched day in history, since the network was founded by Arnold Palmer more than 21 years ago, with 673,000 average viewers. Golf Channel was the No. 1 cable sports network by 319% in Total Day.
